


The Dangers of Reading While Walking

by myscribblingquill



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bookstores, Coffee Shops, F/F, First Meetings, fem!Bilbo, fem!Thorin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-19
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-27 04:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5033320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myscribblingquill/pseuds/myscribblingquill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo can't help it if she has her nose stuck in a book most of the time. Luckily for her Thorin is there to save her when she gets to wrapped up in a story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For [Iben](https://www.thordalf.tumblr.com)
> 
> I've been wanting to write some fem!bagginshield for ages so this was the perfect excuse!

Bilbo was walking along the pavement with her nose in her brand new copy of Jane Eyre when all of a sudden she was being dragged across the road. Snapping her book shut and clutching it to her chest she allowed herself to be dumped on the other side of the road. She hadn’t realised that while she was reading she had wandered into the road.

The girl who had pulled Bilbo out of the way of the oncoming cars turned towards her exclaiming “What were you thinking walking out in the road like that?” 

Taking in the appearance of the other girl Bilbo stuttered out a replied. “I was reading and I … I didn’t notice” she dropped her book back into her bag and ran her hand through her hair.

She wasn’t quite sure what to make of the other girl but Bilbo was grateful to her for pulling her out of the way of the traffic. Bilbo often found that she got carried away with reading a book but it wasn’t normally a problem. She worked at a little bookstore in the center of the city so she was able to spend as much time reading as she wanted. Normally though she kept her book in her bag whilst walking to work but her new copy of Jane Eyre had arrived the evening before and Bilbo couldn’t resist the temptation of reading it.

As she smoothed down her short ruffled hair Bilbo observed the girl who was stood next to her. Although she was scowling Bilbo thought that if she smiled then she would appear to be quite attractive. She had long raven black hair that came halfway down her back in waves and bright blue eyes.

While Bilbo was mussing to herself the dark haired girl had pressed the button to change the traffic lights.

“There now we can cross the road safely” she said as she took Bilbo arm and pulled her gently across the road. “I’m Thorin by the way”

“I’m Bilbo and thank you for er, saving my life”

They crossed the road, making it to the other side without any more incidents. The Bilbo turned to the left so she was facing in the direction of the bookshop.

“Well I guess I’ll -”

“I’m going the same way as you so why don’t we walk together” Thorin interrupted Bilbo who was just about to say goodbye to her.

Bilbo didn’t respond. She didn’t know Thorin and even if it was a busy city Bilbo was still wary of walking off with strangers.

“I promise I’m not a crazy stalker and I did just save your life” Thorin continued with a shy half smile. “You are going down Shire Street right? It’s just that I see you most mornings”

“Okay and thanks for confirming your non-stalker status” Bilbo nodded giving Thorin a reassuring smile as they set off down the street.

They both walked through the crowds with the ease of having lived city for a few years. Bree wasn’t a large city but it was big enough that you had to learn how to avoid walking into people of you wanted to get anywhere. Bilbo assumed that Thorin had been living in the city for a while as she moved through the crowds with ease, not bumping into anyone nor getting in the way.

“So where are you headed?” Bilbo asked Thorin as they turned a corner into a less crowded street.

“There’s this little coffee shop that I get my coffee from every morning. I don’t know why but their coffee always taste better than any I can make myself” Thorin said with a shrug.

Staring up at Thorin in surprise Bilbo realised she might know the shop she was talking of. “Not Dori’s Dollies?” she asked. 

About 8 years ago Bilbo had gone to work in the morning and noticed that the shop on the corner had people working inside. It was 3 months later that Dori’s Dollies opened and Bilbo became a regular customer. The owner Dori baked cakes and pastries while his brother made the coffee and served customers. Bilbo liked the shop, it was small and cozy and he was always greeted with a smile.

Thorin nodded her eyebrows coming together in another scowl. “You’ve heard of it?”

“Yes, the bookshop I work in is only a couple of doors down from there!”

“Oh really I didn’t realise there was a bookshop down there”

“It’s called Tooks Books if you ever want to find a good book to read” Bilbo looked away from Thorin down the street and realised they were stood outside the coffee shop.

“Well perhaps I’ll pop in and we can maybe get some coffee?” Thorin asked avoiding eye contact with Bilbo as she tried to slowly shuffle backwards.

Containing a giggle at Thorin’s discomfort Bilbo replied “I’d like that and thank you again for the whole life saving thing”

Thorin ducked her head and push the coffee shop down open. “You’re too cute to die” she muttered in a quiet voice but not quite quiet enough that Bilbo would hear.

As Thorin disappeared into the shop Bilbo could have sworn that the tips of her ears turned pink and if she was able to see Thorin face she would have known that Thorin had turned bright red.

Bilbo walked the few metres down the road to the bookshop. Pushing the door open she exclaimed “Prim are you here? Have I got a story to tell you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have an idea for a second chapter involving coffee shop dates and book recommendations, so watch out for that. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha more fem!bagginshield and awkward conversations because why not!

It was a few weeks later that Bilbo finally had a visit from Thorin. They’d seen each other occasionally, a smile as Bilbo left the coffee shop after his break or a quick greeting as they passed in the street. Each time they had seen each other Thorin had given Bilbo a smile, albeit a shy one to start with.

As the days wore of Bilbo found herself thinking about Thorin smile more and more. Quite often Thorin’s hair would be in a loose ponytail or a messy bun whenever she saw Bilbo and Bilbo found herself being entranced by the short hairs that framed Thorin’s face. She found herself daydreaming about them too. 

Sitting at the desk waiting for customers to walk into the bookshop wasn’t very exciting and Bilbo couldn’t stop herself from slipping into a daydream. It usually happened while she was in the middle of a chapter in her book. She look over at the door, then the next thing she knew she was imagining Thorin walking in and giving her a brilliant smile. Prim had shouted at her quite a few times as she normally became unresponsive whenever she daydreamed about Thorin.

Today though Bilbo had decided that she wasn’t going to sit at the desk waiting for Thorin. They’d had some new books arrived yesterday and Bilbo wanted to get them out on the shelves. Collecting the ladder from the storeroom and hauling the box of books out into the store, she started to organise them on the shelves. 

There were some older books with worn spines and fade ages that Bilbo made sure she handled with care. Those types of books were her favourite, they had a slightly musty smell and loved to leaf through the pages thinking of all the people that had handle the books before here. There were also some slightly newer books with more modern covers but still looked like they’d been loved. 

When Bilbo was about half way through the box Prim walked in the door. As the manager of the shop Prim spent most of her time going through the stock and organising the finance. She would sometimes sit out front if she had nothing else to do or if Bilbo was organising the shelves like today.

“Good morning Bilbo”

Placing a hand on the ladder to keep her balance Bilbo turned her head towards her cousins and said the greeting back. 

Prim walked over to the front desk, placed her bag under the stool and sat down taking slipping her glasses on as well. 

“I was at the coffee shop a few minutes ago and I saw someone interesting” she smiled over to Bilbo who had was moving the ladder over to the children section.

“Oh?” Bilbo said. After meeting Thorin for the first time she had gone into the shop and told Prim all about it, including a very detailed description of what Thorin looked like. She knew that if Prim every saw her in the coffee shop she would be sure to say something to Bilbo but she tried to act uninterested as she started to climb the ladder.

“I saw Thorin. She was holding two coffee’s though, I’m not sure why”

Prim was watching Bilbo very intently trying to gauge her reaction. She was aware that Bilbo liked Thorin after all she’d caught her daydreaming about Thorin at least 5 times in the past week but she wasn’t sure how Bilbo would react to seeing Thorin again.

Trying to contain her surprise Bilbo forced herself to continue climbing up the ladder steps. Once she reached the top she kept her back to Prim, place the books on the shelves in the right order.

“Oh really? Did he say anything?” She asked hoping that she kept the interest out of her voice.

“No, I didn’t really stick around but umm -” Prim’s voice trailed off as she reached the end of her sentence.

While they had been taking Bilbo hadn’t noticed that the door of the shop opened. Prim didn’t noticed however and stopped talking when Thorin appeared in the door frame. 

At first Thorin didn’t notice Prim sat at the desk, she was too fixated on watching Bilbo putting away the books. She was muttering to herself, reciting the alphabet to make sure she put the books in the right order on the shelf. It was only when Prim stopped talking that she turned around.

“Prim what-” Bilbo fixed her gaze on Thorin, her eyes widening in shock. “Thorin, hi … um give me just a moment”

Making sure that she kept a firm grip on the sides of the ladder Bilbo climbed down quickly, thankful that she didn’t miss a step. When she reached the bottom she walked over to Thorin who was now stood by Prim at the desk.

“Good morning Bilbo. I’m sorry I haven’t been by sooner but I brought coffee” Thorin held up the two coffee cups she held in her hand offering them as a sort of apology.

Taking the coffee that was marked ‘Bilbo’ she took a sip breathing in the smell as it ran down her throat. “And how exactly did you know what coffee I have?” she smirked a Thorin. She suspected that either Ori or Nori made the coffee so Thorin wouldn’t have had to guess.

“I asked Ori” Thorin replied with a smile as she took a sip of her own coffee. “So are you going to show me around this fabulous bookstore of yours?”

At that point Prim let out a subtle cough to remind both of them that she was sat only a few feet away. It wasn’t yet time for Bilbo to have a break but considering she hadn’t stopped smiling since Thorin walked in the shop Prim told her that it could count as customer service if she showed Thorin around the shop.

Pulling Thorin off down one of the aisle Bilbo pulled her over to her favourite stop in the shop. It was a little corner in the back right hand corner with a seat built into the walls and book surrounding. Before Bilbo had started to work at the shop she used to walk down there every Saturday morning, pick a book and read for a few hours. It was her was to get away from the world for a little while.

Now that she worked at the shop she didn’t have as much time to sit in the corner and read. Yet she always made sure that it was neat and tidy in case someone else wanted to get away from the world. 

After showing Thorin the corner she continued to show him the different sections of the shop. She stop occasionally pulling out a book she’d read and loved. Thorin stopped in front of some of the books too saying that he’d read them. Bilbo may have made a mental note of the books which Thorin pulled out fondly and handled with care as they were obviously here favourites.

When they’d gone around the whole shop twice Bilbo finally let go of Thorin, not realising that she’d been holding her arm the whole time.

“Well I guess that’s it” she said as they arrived back at the front of the shop where Prim was pretending like she hadn’t been listening to them as they walked around the shop.

Thorin turned in a full circle surveying the shop before saying “I like it, it’s got a very friendly atmosphere”

“Well that’s what we’re trying to go for” Prim told her from behind the desk.

Nodding at her Thorin turned towards Bilbo who was hopelessly trying to contain the blush that was threatening to spread up her cheeks.

“I’m afraid I can’t stay any longer. I’ve got to get back to work” Thorin said with a shrug.

“That’s ok, it was nice to see you” Bilbo smiled up at her taking a step forward. “Here let me give you my number and then we can perhaps meet up outside of work.” She took another step forward passing Thorin and reached for the notepad on the desk. Jotting down her mobile Bilbo handed it to Thorin who took the piece of paper with a shy smile.

“Thanks, I’ll call you and perhaps we can go out for dinner?” Thorin put the piece of paper into her coat pocket, leaving her hands in her pocket as she walked over to the door.

Bilbo nodded her approval and opened the door to let Thorin out. Say goodbye to each other Thorin left the shop her shoulders hunching over as she walked out in the cold air. After shutting the door behind her Bilbo walked back to the ladder that she’d been using before Thorin came in.

“So that was Thorin”

Keeping her face turned away from the desk Bilbo made a noise of agreement. It was nice to see Thorin again but right now Bilbo didn’t want to have to deal with teasing from Prim. She wanted to sit and daydream about a date with Thorin and what it would be like to spend some time reading in the corner with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
